Is this electric car all it’s cracked up to be?

Let’s hear it for the Tesla Model S. A seriously sporty looking electric car by none other than Elon Musk. Is it as good as you’ve heard? Um, yes. Yes it is.

One of the reasons I love it is because it makes you Speed Smug: a particular smugness which comes with knowing you will be faster than the car next to you. Without doubt. So, you know when you’re at a red light and need to change lanes before the parked car up ahead, but you’re unsure whether you’ll beat the car next to you or not? With this car, you know you’ll be faster. There’s just no question. And it feels good - hence the term, Speed Smug.

Second is the silence. For a car to go this fast traditionally, there is a lot of sound that comes with it. Fast cars are loud (a bit annoyingly so, if we’re honest). But the Tesla is quiet. Literally, quiet. There’s just a soft, low whistling that sounds like it’s straight out of Star Trek. It’s how you know this is the future, rather than the past, of the car industry.

It literally whizzes up hills, sticks flat around corners and is basically like you’re driving a spaceship, or at least the next best thing.

And if you’re just whizzing it round suburbia, charging is a breeze. I started with 100% of charge on a Thursday, and by the following Wednesday I was down to 24%. Easy. If you own a Tesla, you get a charger installed in your garage that you plug into every night so you’re always full. And the Tesla supercharger network is growing. You can now drive from Adelaide to Brisbane, stopping at strategically placed charging stations along the way. Not everywhere is covered but main weekend away and camping destinations now do have a charging station close by. If you’ve got the moolah, this is where I’d spend it.